I don’t want to cross the finish line feeling half dead, I want to cross that line feeling victorious no matter what place I’m in.

I’m no coach or professional trainer but, as I work my way up to 13.1 miles in preparation for my first half marathon, I have a specific method to my treadmill workouts (it’s cold outside).

I always start slow (my current starting pace is 5 mph) and increase my speed as the run continues. When I reach a comfortable speed (currently 5.5 mph) I stay there for most of the run. On longer runs I will drop back to 5 mph and then build up to 5.5 or higher to finish.

The point is that I want to finish better than I started, and the important takeaway is that it’s a gradual but building process. The same is true in life and business. A business doesn’t go from $100,000 in revenue to a million overnight, they build up to it over time.

Sometimes it’s necessary to pull back, to intentionally slow down, so you can be fresh and have the energy needed to see the goal to the end. How many people and businesses keep the pedal to the floor but run out of stamina or money?

As I was increasing my speed on the treadmill I thought about what incremental changes I could make in my life, what could I do more of to get ahead. As I was dropping back to my starting speed I thought about what I could let up on so I could focus on more important things.

This gave me a whole new perspective and I wanted to get off the treadmill right then and get to work (ok, I just wanted the workout to be over). So I finished strong and turned my attention to other ways I’ll be sure to finish strong.

I was in a bad mood yesterday (I still am) and yet I came up with this tweet:

As soon as I tweeted it I thought “how can I write something so positive when I’m feeling so negative?”

That’s when I realized that I held a flawed belief that a lot of people probably also have – that positive, strong people are always positive and strong.

Well if 2013 showed me anything it’s that I can go a long time without being either positive or strong. But I can keep going.

The difference between success and disappointment is that even in the darkest, loneliest, most depressed times, successful people find that little bit of positivity to pull them up from the abyss. Tweeting what I did, didn’t suddenly make me smile and look out the window of the train with a renewed perspective. I was still in a bad mood but I knew it would pass and I would emerge stronger.

I may not always be happy but I know that I can’t let that stop me. I have to keep moving even if the progress is slow.